Birthday Surprise
by RivergronLover
Summary: Emily makes Paige think she's forgotten her birthday, only to surprise her with a party and a very special present.


**I originally posted this on Tumblr a few months ago, but I like to have everything in one place so I figured I'd upload it here too. **

**I really enjoyed writing Paily, so I might write a few more ficlets in the future, let me know if you have any requests!**

**xx Em**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars**

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><p>Everyone who knew Paige and Emily knew that Paige was the most romantic person ever. She was the girl most boyfriends hated, because they couldn't possibly live up to her standards, and their girlfriends heard Emily's stories all the time. It wasn't that she felt the need to try hard, she had her girl and she knew very well that Emily wasn't going anywhere, it was just who she was. She wanted to make Emily feel special every single day. Some days it was just a text saying some new thing she loved about Emily, other days it could be a flower or more that Emily found various places, and most weekends Paige had something special planned. She could even make a simple dinner and movie at home seem like the most perfect date ever. And Emily loved it. And she loved Paige. How could she not? While her friends were lucky if their boyfriends remembered their anniversary, her girlfriend kissed her forehead before bed every night and never once failed to make her feel special.<p>

What a lot of people didn't know was that Emily also had a romantic side. It didn't get a chance to come out very often, but it was very much there. Especially now that Paige's birthday was coming up. Neither of them had mentioned it. Emily wanted Paige to think she'd forgotten it. She wanted to surprise her. _Really_ surprise her.

While Paige was romantic, she was also very shy and would blush furiously whenever Emily told her friends about things that Paige had done for her. She didn't want to make a big deal about anything, she didn't want to be the center of attention, which is also why she didn't really bring up her birthday. She didn't want to think that her girlfriend of five years had forgotten it, _but_ it was during their exam period and Emily had been really busy between school and work lately. So she didn't really mind.

The night before her birthday, well it was technically her birthday as it was past midnight, they went to bed and talked for a little bit and then read some before turning off the lights. As usual Emily snuggled into Paige's side and Paige kissed her forehead. "Goodnight Emmy, I love you."

"I love you too baby."

Emily leaned up and kissed Paige goodnight before lying her head back on Paige's chest, Paige absentmindedly playing with Emily's dark brown hair and Emily smirking as she thought about what she had planned the next day. Lucky for her it was Friday, and she only had one exam in the morning while Paige had a couple of exams and a couple of normal classes.

Just as she was about to close her eyes she heard a tentative sigh coming from her girlfriend.

"Hey, Em?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Well, uh, I was just… nothing, never mind."

"What is it?"

"It's nothing."

Emily turned around and looked at her girlfriend.

"Come on Paigey, spit it out."

"Uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the movies on Sunday? If you don't have to study for exams that is."

Paige was clearly lying, but Emily played along and kissed her again.

"I'd love to go to the movies with you on Sunday. Now I gotta get to sleep, got an exam tomorrow morning."

"Oh, right, sorry. Night baby, love you, good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks, you too."

Emily lay back down and went through her plans in her head before falling asleep.

Paige had just finished her exam and was quickly moving through the hallways of Stanford to get to her next class when some other student slammed into her and all her papers and books flew everywhere. The girl apologized multiple times and helped her gather all of her things, and while Paige had initially been annoyed, as she didn't have the time for this, the girl was clearly sorry so she let it pass. It wasn't until the end of her class that she noticed a note amongst her things that hadn't been there before. The not simply said 'You're the most beautiful person I've ever met, inside and out. You're perfect and I want to give you the world.' The note had most definitely not been there earlier, but she didn't have time to figure out who it was from or how it got there because she had to rush across campus to get to her next exam. This class was her favorite, her professor was a good professor, he was fun and he was very understanding. She took a seat on the front row and looked over the note again as other students poured in. It wasn't Emily's handwriting. As far as she knew she didn't have any secret admirers on campus either, so if it wasn't from Emily she had no idea who it could be from.

She put it back into her folder as the professor started handed out the exams, and as soon as he said go Paige started writing. She knew all of this, she'd barely practiced, but she loved this class and there was no way she was not getting an A. She scribbled furiously, writing out theories and giving examples. She had to stop writing to give her wrist a break a few times, when she concentrated hard enough she had a tendency to grip the pen too hard and cause a lot of discomfort in her wrist. It was during one of these breaks near the end of the exam that the door gently opened and a young man holding a huge flower bouquet walked into the room. He said a few words to the professor who nodded in Paige's direction and the flower man walked over to Paige and placed the bouquet on the empty desk next to her, giving her a soft smile and a nod when she looked at him. As soon as her exam was handed in she picked up the flowers and checked for a note. As she walked out of the lecture hall her professor called after her. "Happy birthday, miss McCullers." She politely said thank you and left to her last class of the day.

It had been a busy morning, and she couldn't wait for classes to be over so she could go back to bed. Her professor was the first person to actually say happy birthday to her, the rest was just texts she'd gotten from some of her friends. Emily hadn't said a word about it when she'd left this morning, and her parents knew she was busy so they were more likely to call towards the end of the day. Or not bring it up until they came over for graduation in two weeks. Paige still couldn't believe that she and Emily would be graduating. They already had their future laid out; Paige had gotten an awesome offer from a swim team down in LA and Emily had gotten a job with a fairly decent pay, considering she was right out of college. Her swim times this season had been record breaking, and the US national swim team had contacted her. If she kept up her times she was guaranteed a spot in the next Olympics. Emily had probably been more excited that she was when they found out. This was such a huge opportunity for her, and there was no way she was gonna ruin it. On top of that her and Emily's parents had gone together and bought them a small apartment in LA as an early graduation present, so she didn't have to think about rent or anything else. After everything that had happened in Rosewood she could hardly believe how lucky she was now. The last four years had been as close to drama free as they could be, and the only people who had died were old. It had been their time to go, and A had definitely not been involved. Paige had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she'd forgotten the flowers that were lying on her desk. She finally found a note. 'I could write that I'll love you till the last one dies, and then one flower is fake, but that's really cheesy and you and I both know you hate that. So instead, have some flowers, without the cheesiness. Also, you look gorgeous today.'

The flowers were beautiful and Paige kept smelling them, smiling to herself the whole time. While this card didn't have Emily's handwriting on it either, she knew for sure that they were from her. The professor dismissed the class and when Paige stepped out of the room she was gently pulled aside by one of the girls on her swim team.

"Hi Paige."

"Hey Kayla, what's up?"

"Happy birthday!"

Kayla hugged Paige, without crushing the flowers, and smiled sweetly.

"I'm here on a mission, you need to come with me."

"Kayla, I really just want to go back to my apartment and sleep."

"You won't regret it, trust me."

Paige groaned, but Kayla was her favorite person on the team and she couldn't say no to her.

"Fine, just make it quick."

They made their way to Kayla's car and Kayla kept talking about her goals for her senior year as she made her way to Paige and Emily's apartment.

"What are we doing here?"

"You have to drop off your stuff and change, let's go."

Paige had no idea what was going on, but she followed Kayla's orders and went into her apartment.

"You change, outfit's on the bed, I'll put your flowers in a vase."

"Thanks… I think? What's going on?"

Kayla shrugged and headed for the kitchen.

"I don't know, just following orders."

"Did Emily put you up to this?"

"My lips are sealed, McCullers."

"This better not be a surprise party, she knows I hate surprises and parties."

Kayla laughed.

"Tell me about it, the one after your new record was hilarious."

"It was not!"

"It so was, you should have seen your face Paige."

Even though they were in separate rooms Paige could practically see Kayla mimicking the face she'd made when she walked in on the surprise party Emily had thrown for her a few months earlier.

"I have seen my face, thank you very much."

"Don't thank me, thank smart phones and Facebook."

Paige groaned again as she put on the outfit on the bed.

"I swear to god, if Emily has thrown me another surprise party I'm gonna withhold sex for so long."

"TMI Paige, besides, we all know you wouldn't last a day yourself."

"Oh please, Em and I don't have sex every day."

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetcheeks."

Paige leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen and crossed her arms.

"Fine, maybe almost everyday. But I can go a few days without sex."

"Hey, I don't blame ya. I've seen your girlfriend, she's hot as hell, I'd be at it like a rabbit too if I was you."

"We're not at it like rabbits."

Kayla smirked as they walked out of the apartment and made their way to the car.

"I've seen the way Emily looks at you and I've seen how the both of you have difficulties walking sometimes."

"Maybe we were just working out."

"In bed. Just admit it Paige, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You two have been together for a long time, I think it's nice that you still love each other that much and that you still find ways to spice up your sex life."

"I'm really not comfortable with us talking about my sex life."

Kayla patted Paige's leg as she drove.

"I know, that's why I enjoy it."

"Change of subject, how's exams going?"

"Great. If I want a shot at the captain role now that you're quitting I've got to keep my grades up, and that's exactly what I'm doing."

"Wanna know a secret?"

"Always."

"The captain spot is already yours. Coach is gonna announce it next week, you better act surprised."

Kayla squealed and leaned over to hug Paige, while standing at a red light.

"Are you serious? I can't believe it, this is insane."

"You deserve it, you're without a doubt the best swimmer on the team, besides me of course."

"Did you have anything to do with it?"

"Maybe…"

"You did! What did you tell coach?"

"She asked me for my opinions, I told her that you were her best choice and that if anyone could lead the team to the championships next year it was you."

Kayla took Paige's hand and squeezed it gently.

"Thanks Paige."

"K, you know I love you, you're like a little sister to me. I want you to get loads of offers this next year, and with this captain spot that's guaranteed to happen."

"Stop it, you're gonna make me cry. This is your birthday, I'm the one who's supposed to be nice to you."

"I'll stop complimenting you. So do you know what Em has planned?"

"Yes, but I think she'd rather tell you herself."

Kayla stopped the car and Emily opened the door for Paige.

"Thanks for the help Kayla, I'll see you later."

"No problem, it was kinda fun."

Emily closed the door behind Paige and Kayla drove of as Emily leaned in to kiss her girlfriend.

"Happy birthday, baby."

Paige hummed against Emily's lips and she wrapped her arms around her neck to keep her from pulling back.

"About damn time, Fields."

Emily hugged Paige tightly.

"I didn't forget, I just wanted to surprise you."

"I know, and the flowers were beautiful, thank you."

"You got the note too, right?"

"Of course. How did you get it there though?"

"The girl who slammed into you. Sorry about that, but it was necessary."

"Sneaky. Just please tell me there's not a surprise party waiting for me?"

"Well there is a party, but it's not a surprise party. It's my parents, your parents, the swim team, Hanna, Aria and Spencer. I could have invited a lot more people, but I didn't want to."

"That's very nice of you. And how did you get everyone but the swim team out here?"

"It wasn't that hard, I've been planning this for months and I knew the girls wanted to be here. Our parents are staying until graduation, they wanted to do some touristy stuff."

Paige leaned back and kissed Emily again, pouring all of her love and gratitude into it.

"Thank you. I know I haven't even seen everyone yet, but thank you for everything."

"It's the least I could do, babe, you have no idea how lucky you make me feel every single day. You're the best girlfriend I could possibly ask for and for once I want to do something nice for you."

"You do nice things for me all the time."

"But it's nothing compared to what you do for me. Compared to what you've always done for me. When A was around you worried for me and you protected me, and since we moved you've been nothing but attentive, knowing what I want before I know it."

Paige nuzzled into Emily's neck and let out a soft sigh.

"Stop it, you're making me blush."

"Paige, I mean it. I love you so much, you know that right?"

"I know, I love you too."

"Good, now let's go to the party."

"Do we have to?"

Emily laughed as she laced their fingers together.

"Yes, now your parents are dying to see you, let's go."

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Hanna got me this actually. You don't exactly look half bad yourself."

"Thanks. My girlfriend picked it out."

"Your girlfriend has great taste."

"She does, you should meet her sometime."

"I would love to. Here we are."

Emily walked through the door and inside everyone she had previously mentioned were talking and drinking champagne. As soon as Paige stepped into the room her parents and Emily's parents came over, hugging her and congratulating her.

"I can't believe you guys all flew out here."

"How can I not show up to my favorite daughter-in-law's birthday party?"

"I really appreciate it, Pam. I can't believe Emily managed to hide all of this from me, she's usually not the best secret keeper."

"Trust me, I've been wanting to tell you for months, but everyone who knew about it have gotten me to shut up."

"I'm very proud of you."

"How did your exams go today, sweetie?"

Paige turned towards her mom and smiled. She'd missed her mom; she hadn't seen her since Christmas.

"It was great mom, I wrote so much that my wrist hurts and I feel really confident about all of it."

"I'm very proud of you Paige, your mother and I both are. You've grown into a fine young woman, and you and Emily have a very good future ahead of you."

Paige hugged her dad again.

"Thank you dad, it means a lot to me."

Nick hugged his daughter tightly and whispered into her ear.

"Emily's a very lucky woman."

"I'm the lucky one dad."

"Don't sell yourself short, pookie bear."

Paige wiped away a tear as her dad used his old nickname for her. When Paige was little he had been the best dad anyone could dream of having, but as she got older and older he'd also gotten stricter, expecting much more from her. Eventually she'd cracked under pressure, and with Emily's help she had told her dad how it made her feel. He'd instantly felt bad, and since then he'd been nothing but supportive to every aspect of her life. Especially towards her relationship with Emily, something that made Paige really happy. She knew that Wayne and Pam loved her, and to know that her parents loved Emily just as much was the best thing she could ever have asked for.

"Go talk to your friends, we have plenty of time to catch up sweetie."

Paige nodded and took off to talk to Aria, Spencer and Hanna. Hanna squealed and hugged her tightly when she saw her, while the two others were more subdued in their greeting. They were just as excited though.

"Happy birthday, Paige. I know you don't like surprises so I made sure Emily promised not to have a surprise party before I agreed to come."

"Thanks Spence, that's really nice of you."

"You look amazing Paige, that dress suits you so well."

"Thank you Aria, Emily picked it out. I don't usually wear dresses, but I really like this one."

"You should, you look really hot!"

"Hanna, stop drooling over my girlfriend."

Emily walked over to them and gave Hanna a playful look.

"I'm not, just saying she looks really hot."

Emily wrapped her arms around Paige from behind and kissed her neck.

"That she does."

Hanna smirked.

"Someone's getting laid tonight."

"Hanna, we talked about this on the plane over here, when you say things like that Paige gets really uncomfortable."

"Too late, Kayla over there already made me uncomfortable enough as it is, anything Hanna adds will just be an awkward bonus."

"I'm happy you say that, because I have a few questions about girl on girl action."

Emily slowly shook her head behind Paige.

"Nope, no you don't."

Hanna pouted.

"What's the point of having two gay best friends if they won't answer your questions?"

"I suppose we could answer your questions if they're general, and not specific to us?"

"Babe, what?! Are you serious? You really want to talk about this with Hanna?"

"Em, I don't see why we can't just answer her questions? It's not like I'm gonna tell her what you like in bed."

"Damn, there goes question number one."

Emily and Paige's eyes went wide.

"Okay, scratch what I said, no Q & A session today. Use google."

"Caleb doesn't like it when I google 'how do lesbians have sex?'."

Spencer laughed.

"Hanna, you're 22, think about it."

"Actually, lesbian sex is usually much more different than what most people think it is."

"Really? So like when lesbians use strap-ons and all, like why? I thought you were lesbian because you didn't like dicks?"

Emily groaned and buried her face into Paige's hair.

"It's difficult to describe, Hanna. But, uh, it has more to do with the person it's attached to than anything else."

Paige was almost as red as a tomato, and Emily was surprised she still answered Hanna's questions.

"So like when Emily wears one it really turns you on?"

"Uhh, I'm gonna go get something to drink."

Paige hurried off and Emily stared at Hanna.

"Seriously Han, was that really necessary?"

"I'm just curious, that's all!"

"I've never seen Paige so red before. It's kinda cute."

"See, Aria doesn't mind my questions."

"Hey, don't drag me into this, all I said was that Paige was cute when she blushed, not that your questions weren't weird!"

"Spence, back me up here."

"I do actually have a few questions of my own…"

"Nope, no way, no more questions about sex."

Emily shook her head as she backed away slowly, heading towards Paige.

Paige had joined the swim team, so Emily headed over there.

"Thanks again for the help, Kayla."

"Oh no worries, I had a lot of fun."

"I bet. I'm just gonna steal Paige for a second, okay?"

"Of course, she's all yours."

Emily took Paige's hand and led her to another room, which was empty and they sat down on a couch.

"Hi."

Paige smirked. "Hey you."

"I'm sorry I surprised you, I know you don't like surprises."

"Em, I don't mind. This has been great, everyone I love and care about are here, I couldn't ask for anything better."

"Not even a quiet night at home?"

"Nope, I can have quiet nights at home whenever I want to, but how often does Hanna get a chance to ask me about strap-ons face to face?"

Emily laughed and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend.

"I really love you."

"Mm, good, because I really love you too."

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Shoot."

Emily laced both of their hands together and looked down.

"Well, we've got our future sort of figured out. And while I'm still pretty young and clueless there is one thing that I know for sure."

"What's that?"

"That I want to marry you."

Paige froze. Did this mean what she thought this meant?

"Wait, are you… is this… a proposal?"

Emily looked up and nodded, digging into her pocket to get a ring.

"I had practiced this whole speech in my mind, and then when I finally get around to it I mess it up so badly that you don't even know it's a proposal."

Paige laughed and wiped away her tears. "It's perfect Em, for once you're the one who's all flustered, that's usually my job."

"I love it when you get anxious though, it's adorable."

"Well so is it when it's you."

Emily held up the ring and gently put it onto Paige's finger.

"Oh wait, you never said yes."

Paige laughed again and leaned in to kiss Emily passionately.

"Is that yes enough for you?"

Emily didn't respond, instead she kissed Paige back with even more passion, her hands cupping her fiancée's cheeks.

"So, what's our last name gonna be?"

"McFields?"

"That sounds like something from a McDonalds menu."

"True… McCullers it is then."

"Hmm, Emily McCullers, I like that."

"You better, cause I want your name."

Paige kissed Emily again, feeling this intense joy radiating from her. She had never expected this to happen, she always figured that when they finally got engaged it would be her who asked Emily. To say that Emily caught her off guard would be an understatement, especially considering the fact that when she woke up this morning she was sure that Emily had forgotten her birthday all together.

"I have no idea how I'll top this for your birthday, Em."

"As long as you don't tell me you're pregnant we're all good."

Paige laughed.

"I promise, no babies."

"Yet."

"Yet. In the future, plenty of babies."

"Little McCullers babies running around. I like the sound of that."

"Hold on to your ovaries, babe, we're only 22."

Emily grinned wickedly. "Oh trust me, I want you for myself for at least a few more years."

"What's on your mind, Fields?"

"Let's just say it's bright blue and about 7 inches long…"


End file.
